Of Pancakes & Popcorn
by queen-bess-mccord
Summary: "With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come." - William Shakespeare


**A/N:** Hi guys! This took me a while to write, with work and all. Huge thank you teammccord for the idea! :) It turned out to be a really long piece, but I hope you'll read and enjoy it! Reviews, as always, are highly appreciated!

* * *

She knew something was up.

"…And at 3 pm, you'll have a meeting with China's Foreign Minister Chen about the situation in North Korea," announced Blake as he read off her schedule for the day. He was standing stiffly, today more so than usual. His eyes darted around, mostly directing his gaze towards the book he was reading off and avoiding meeting her eyes.

"Blake?"

"Y-Yes, Ma'am?" His head jerked up.

"Is there anything you'd like to share with me?" Her eyes widened, feigning innocence.

An obvious shade of red crept up his face. "No, Ma'am."

"You're sure?"

"I'm s-sure."

"Alright, thanks." He strode out of her office, tripping over his feet in the process. Regaining composure, he cleared his throat and made his way back to his desk.

She leaned back in her seat. She _knows_ he's hiding something. As Nadine once aptly put, Blake "shakes like _a_ _Chihuahua_ who just peed on the carpet" whenever he got nervous about doing something behind someone's back. Having known him for about four years now, it was easy to read him, even without using her CIA analyst skills.

Once he was out of her sight, he whipped out his phone, and shot a quick text to Henry, his fingers quivering as they tapped the screen.

 _I think shes onto mr oh god_

His phone buzzed several seconds later.

 _Blake, calm down. We're not hiding a dead body from her, we're just planning a birthday party for her._

"Easier said than done," he muttered to himself.

"Did you say something, Blake?" Elizabeth's voice suddenly appeared beside him. She tried to steal a glance at his phone before he flipped it around, screen facing down. _Damn it,_ she thought; she didn't catch a single word of that text he received.

"No, Ma'am!" he replied, louder than necessary. He shot up in his seat, not daring to look at her directly.

"Huh. Prepare my motorcade. I got a call to the White House."

"Okay." He got up and followed her down the corridor, his phone in his hand as he made the arrangements.

 _Keeping this secret is going to be tough_.

* * *

The McCords' household buzzed with excitement. The weekend had arrived and Henry called for a family meeting – except, Elizabeth wasn't there. The busy Secretary of State often worked weekends, and this week was no exception; political crises never stopped for anyone.

"Family meeting, guys! Come on!" Henry called out, feeling enthusiastic about planning a party for Elizabeth's 50th birthday. Alison and Stevie strode into the room, while Jason grumbled as he trudged down the stairs, not yet quite awake.

The kids comfortably settled down in the couch facing their dad. "Why are we having a family meeting when mom's not around?" Jason asked irritably. It was barely 10am in the morning, which, in Jason's opinion, was way too early to be up, especially on a weekend.

"We're having a family meeting exactly because she isn't here." Their different expressions all shifted into similar looks of confusion. "Mom's birthday is coming up in a week. I need your help in planning something for her."

Alison's ears perked up at the mention of a party. "Can I do the decorating? Please, dad?" She bounced up and down her seat, unable to contain her excitement.

"Hang on, noodle. This time we're planning one with the State department. It's her 50th birthday so I wanna do something special."

"That's fine, as long as I get to do the decorations!"

"Alright, noodle," he conceded, grinning at his middle child.

"Okay, but we gotta do popcorn strings," Stevie pitched in.

"I had something els—"

"Oh, come on, Mom loves popcorn. You can't deny her popcorn on her birthday, can you?" Stevie eyed her younger sister.

"Oh, fine. But I get to do the rest!"

"Sounds good! Any ideas, buddy?" Henry looked at Jason, who stayed quiet the whole time.

"Um…" Jason wasn't sure what to suggest. Birthdays have always been a private family affair, filled with laffy strings, pancakes, and laughter. _Pancakes! Why didn't I think about that?_ "How about pancakes instead of a regular cake?"

"Great idea, Jase!" Henry glanced at his watch; they had another a few hours to go before she's home. "Why don't we go get the supplies now? It'll take a while before Mom comes home anyway."

"Let's go!"

They kept up the banter all the way from the store to their home, talking and laughing about the upcoming surprise for their mom. Henry smiled seeing his children interact with each other. They went through a tough patch during the first two years of Elizabeth's new job and often ended up arguing and shouting at one another. It warmed his heart that they were talking rather than yelling now.

Just as the McCords entered the kitchen, a voice sounded at the door. Elizabeth was home.

"I'm home!" Her briefcase hit the floor with a dull thud as she stepped into the foyer. She was exhausted, to say the least. Some ends had to be tied up for a trade deal with China and Japan, which was no easy feat by any means considering the two countries' strained relationship. Looking at the empty living room, she asked, "Where's everyone?"

The four of them started shoving the supplies into any available space in the cupboards, not wanting her to know anything about the surprise. The last cupboard door slammed shut right before she stepped into the kitchen.

"Ah, there you guys are!" she smiled at her husband and kids.

"Hey, babe." Henry walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, greeting her with a kiss. Pulling away, she let herself melt into his embrace, too tired to stand straight. Looking past his shoulder, she eyed her children suspiciously when she saw their overexcited grins.

"What's up? Anything good happened today?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, um, Dad took us out to watch a movie and it was really funny; that's all." Stevie answered quickly, mashing her lips to stop herself from smiling too much. Jason and Alison hastily nodded in agreement, praying that she wouldn't ask about the "movie".

"Okay." She didn't really believe them but all she wanted to do now was crawl into bed. "I'm going to take a nap," she announced, then turning to Henry, "come with me?"

He followed her up to the bedroom, letting her tug him forward. Henry settled on the bed while she changed into his ratty sweatshirt and pajama pants before sitting beside him and leaning her head on his shoulder. "So, how was your day?"

"Great! The movie was really hilarious," he said, keeping up the façade, "maybe we can watch it when you have more time to break away from work. You should sleep, babe."

"Fine. But you do remember what day it is next Friday, right?" She smiled playfully at her husband like a kid excited for Christmas.

"Of course. It's your birthday; I wouldn't miss it for the world." He leaned down and pecked her softly on her nose, eliciting a tiny giggle from her, before he moved to capture her lips. They kissed lazily, gentle whispers of their lips moving together filling the silence of their room. He wrapped his arms around her slim waist and pulled her closer to him, resting half her body on his.

He pulled away, knowing that she needed the rest after a crazy week at work. He laughed when he caught her pouting at him for breaking the kiss. "Anything special you wanna eat on that day?"

"Hmm…" she pondered for a bit, "Oh! I'd love to eat anything you cook. I love your cooking; it's my favorite."

"Alright. Now sleep."

"Fine." She moved so that she was half lying on his lap and entwined her fingers with his before letting the exhaustion wash over her.

* * *

The next few days passed quickly, though everyone around Elizabeth seemed particularly jumpy. Her assistant and chief of staff would get shocked by her voice even if she stood right in front of them. Her kids, on the other hand, would talk in hushed voices and immediately stop whenever she got too close. She figured that they were all in on something together, though she wasn't sure what. A birthday party did cross her mind, but she put it off since it was always something she celebrated only with her family.

She was looking forward to going home on her birthday and having the home-cooked dinner Henry had promised. Her job was extremely demanding and the time she could spend with her family was a lot lesser than when she was at UVA, so a simple dinner like that was more than enough for her.

The first thing she saw stepping out from the elevator was her staff. Daisy, Matt, and Nadine stood by the entrance, ready to ambush her. There wasn't an actual situation that needed her to deal with, but they needed to block off some time so they could prepare the conference room for the party.

"Minister Chen is waiting for you in the office," Blake announced as they walked through the office.

"What? Seriously?" she stopped and turned around to face him, "I thought we wrapped up the trade agreement last week. Did he say what it was about?"

"He didn't say." Nadine pursed her lips. Elizabeth groaned softly as she strode into her office, putting on a smile to greet China's foreign minister right before she closed the door behind her.

Blake sent a quick text to Henry.

 _She's in._

* * *

He picked up his phone when it buzzed.

"Okay! Mom's in office," Henry told the kids. They were all helping out in making the pancakes, especially Stevie, who would be the second best chef in the McCord family. The decorations and popcorn strings were already done during the week when Elizabeth was busy at work. The box of decorations now sat in the car boot. All that was left was the pancakes.

Henry placed the pancakes in a neat stack before quickly icing them in whipped cream. He finished it off with sprinkles and some popcorn on the sides, writing "Happy birthday, Elizabeth" on the top in blue icing. After carefully placing it in the box, he tied it up tightly with a ribbon.

"Ready to go, guys?"

"Yeah!" Jason, Alison and Stevie said in unison. They grabbed everything they needed and headed to the car.

It took them about twenty minutes to reach her office. Blake silently ushered them into the conference room, staring intently at her office door just in case she finished the meeting with Minister Chen early. He was in on the surprise, so Blake trusted that he could delay the meeting for as long as they needed.

The moment they were in the conference room, the staff and the McCords launched into action. There were already some party food ordered in by the State Department staff on the table. Alison enlisted the help of Daisy, Matt, Jay and Blake to set up the decorations while Stevie, Nadine and Henry prepared the table. Everything went according to plan and within the hour, they were done.

* * *

"Thank you, Minister Chen," she stood up and shook his hand. Turns out, the trade deal has been going smoothly so far, based on his updates. They ended up in a passionate discussion of future plans and potential developments for their countries' economies. By the time it ended, it had already been more than two hours since she entered her office that morning. Needing to stretch her legs, she walked out of her office to Blake's desk.

"What's next on my schedule, Blake?" she asked.

Blake jumped at her voice; he had barely sat down for ten minutes after finishing the party preparations. "Um, you have a meeting in the conference room. Nadine and Jay want to brief you on the progress on the Iran peace deal."

 _Another_ progress report. She sighed. It was barely noon and she already wanted to go home to be with her family. Pushing the doors open, she was startled by the chorus of voices that greeted her.

"Happy Birthday!" Her staff and family stood in the conference room, surrounded by splashes of blue and popcorn strings.

"Oh, Jesus!" she jumped, holding a hand to her racing heart. "Sorry, I was a little surprised," she said after a moment, laughing, "Gosh, thank you, guys!"

"Just us, ma'am. Though some would say I look like Jesus sometimes," Matt joked as Henry walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her middle and whispering a "happy birthday" in her ear.

"Very funny, Matt. So _this_ was what you guys were planning the past week!" She shot looks at Blake and her children. They all smiled sheepishly at her. Spotting Minister Chen at the back, she exclaimed, "You were in on it too! Now I feel like I put my CIA training to shame." Everyone laughed.

"It was Mr McCord's idea, ma'am," Blake said.

"Really," she looked up at her husband adoringly, "Thank you, babe." She kissed him lightly on his lips, resulting in several whistles from her staff and fake retching noises from their kids. She chuckled as she saw a tinge of pink appear on his cheeks. "Now, dig in!"

Everyone dove for the food. There were not only the typical pizzas, chips and fries, but several bowls of popcorn as well. Elizabeth couldn't help but reach for a bowl of her favorite sweet and salted popcorn as Henry sat down and pulled her onto his lap. Alison and Jason grumbled as their mom claimed an entire bowl of popcorn to herself while Stevie laughed at her younger siblings. Everyone had a drink of champagne in their hands, except for Alison and Jason who had to stick to orange juice and coke. They laughed and joked, reminiscing past birthday celebrations and funny moments.

As per McCord tradition, a laffy string fight erupted in the conference room and everyone joined in, including the State Department staff. It soon became a McCord family versus State Department fight, with Elizabeth standing on her family's side. Needless to say, the McCords won, having had years of experience with their yearly birthday celebrations.

Just as they sank into the chairs, Henry took out the pancake cake and placed it on the table for the cake cutting. Elizabeth stood at the end of the table, feeling tears gather at the corner of her eyes as they sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Four years ago, when she reluctantly stepped into her job as Secretary of State, she didn't think that she would come to love her job. But she did. The staff she inherited grew from being mere colleagues to a second family. Her own family grew in their own ways as well, going through thick and thin with her as they adapted to her job. There were many protests from her kids initially, but now they supported her in any way possible.

She wiped away the tears in her eyes as the song ended on a harmonious chord. "Thank you, guys. I really appreciate it," she smiled.

"Make a wish!" Some of them insisted.

She closed her eyes and clasped her hands together, making her wish. She wished for world peace, for many more years with her great staff, for a blissful life with her family, and happiness for her kids. It was more than one wish, but it was all that she hoped for. With that, she blew out the candles on the cake and everyone cheered.

Cameras flashed as she made the first cut into the cake, committing the celebratory occasion to pictures. Henry laughed at his wife when she squealed in delight seeing what the cake actually was. Her endless love for pancakes often amused him and yet, he adored her that way. Everyone except Elizabeth took a small slice, feeling full after the first round of food.

"Thank you _so much_ for planning this birthday party, guys. Now, grab your drinks, and have the rest of the day off!" Elizabeth declared soon after, holding up her glass of champagne. Her staff cheered, clinking their glasses together. Everyone helped in cleaning up the place and once they were done, they left for home.

* * *

The five McCords trudged into their home, tired after the day's events, dropping off everything at the entrance. Henry insisted on making dinner as promised, but everyone was simply too full to force down any more food.

"C'mere, kids," Elizabeth called out for her children and pulled them into a tight hug, peppering each one with kisses to the head. "Thank you for the _best_ birthday ever! I love you guys so much." They grinned at her, happy that she enjoyed what they planned with her staff.

She retired to the bedroom with Henry several moments later, wanting to spend some time alone with him. They washed up and got ready for bed; Elizabeth wore her comfy lounge clothes while Henry stripped down to his boxers and pulled on a t-shirt.

"Here, for you," he said softly, offering her a flat box covered in wrapping paper just as she plopped on the bed to sit beside him.

She ripped the paper off, eagerly wanting to know what it was. A gasp escaped her lips as she slid the present out of the box.

It was a framed photo of them from the first time she spent her birthday with him. She was sitting on his lap on the couch in his apartment, their arms wrapped tightly around each other as they kissed. She laughed tenderly, remembering how they couldn't keep their hands off each other during the first few years of their relationship. It hasn't been much different since then, though now they have to exercise some restrain in front of their children and in public.

"Was it Alice who took the photo?" she chuckled, trying to recall who else attended the party three decades ago.

"Yeah. I contacted her when I was looking for this particular photo. For some reason, I had every other photo from that party, except this one. I really wanted to give it to you, especially since it's your fiftieth birthday."

She reached up and captured his lips, conveying her love and gratitude towards him. "Thank you, for everything. For today's party. For making my fiftieth birthday the best birthday ever. But God, I feel old," she laughed.

"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come," Henry smiled at his wife, finding her more beautiful now than ever.

"Oh, I know that one! It's William Shakespeare, isn't it?"

"Yeah, from the Merchant of Venice. Oh! I have another gift for you."

"What is it?" her brows furrowed slightly as she wondered what the gift was; he had already given the best gift she could get.

"This." He leaned down and placed his lips over hers, pulling away a moment later. "And this." Kiss. "And this." Kiss. "And this." Kiss.

"And how many times are you gonna kiss me?" she giggled when they broke apart long enough for her to talk.

"Fifty; one for every year you've lived. Every year you live is another year I get to have you in my life, and for that, I am incredibly grateful. Happy birthday, love," he answered earnestly. Before she got a chance to reply, he dove in for another kiss, leaving her melting under his touch.

It was, without a doubt, the best birthday Elizabeth ever had.


End file.
